A distributed antenna system extends the range of wireless communications with a network base station to areas that the network base station cannot adequately reach. In a typical configuration, the distributed antenna system receives wireless signals from the network base station into a base antenna system. The base antenna system produces stronger and cleaner versions of the received signal and transfers these cleaned-up versions to a set of coverage antenna systems. The coverage antenna systems are typically located in areas that may be too distant from the network base station or that are shielded from the network base station by structural materials. The coverage antenna systems wirelessly transfer their respective signals to user communication devices at the respective locations.
In a reciprocal fashion, the coverage antenna systems receive wireless signals from the user communication devices and transfer these signals to the base antenna system. The base antenna system wirelessly transfers these signals to the network base station. Thus, the distributed antenna system operates as a two-way wireless repeater between the user communication devices and the network base station.
The network base station wirelessly broadcasts overhead signals to enable user communication devices to communicate with the base station. In a distributed antenna system scenario, the base antenna system receives the overhead signals from the network base station and the coverage antennas wirelessly re-broadcast the overhead signals to the user communication devices. The overhead signals carry various information including a network identifier and a system identifier. The network identifier is associated with an entire network of base stations and associated network equipment. The system identifier identifies the individual base station. Thus, the network identifier and the system identifier enable user communication devices to readily identify the various networks and base stations that they encounter. In some implementations, the user communication devices process a pilot signal and the system identifier to identify the various networks and base stations, and the network identifier is not used for this purpose.